第二版前言
我很幸运，在本书发行第一版之后，遇见了很多人，他们身上都有着动人的故事。我和那些挚爱死于赛博精神病的人交谈过。我见过那些亲人死于我手的人。不用说，并非每次对话都能愉快地结束。
一段时间后，我就能猜到读者会问些什么问题。你自己中过弹吗？（中过，数不清多少次了。）最难杀死/逮捕的人是谁？（2063 年黄金泉购物中心杀手，比一般人有更多钛合金骨架和合成皮肤）。是什么导致了赛博精神病？（等我搞清楚了就告诉你！）
然后，在海伍德的签售会上，有人问了一个我以前从没听说过的问题：有没有什么让你晚上睡不着觉？我思考了一下，发觉还真有。然而最让人吃惊的是，不是噩梦里被开膛破肚的赛博精神病受害人，也不是我的战友被活活烧死的哭喊。虽然听起来很残酷，但我已经习惯了。这是我工作的一部分。都不是。但只要想到或许有一天，我也会变成赛博精神病，我就会在深夜辗转反侧，心惊肉跳。我的身体里安装了大量义体。多得超乎想象。我试过扼杀自己人性中的恐惧和猜疑。我明白自己的人性是多么的脆弱，正是内心深处的这一部分自我造就了我本人。一部分的我神经元被削短，一部分的我荷尔蒙过剩，这样的我可能会永远消失，留下一具机械躯壳，被唯一的欲望驱使着：去杀戮。其实，我会强迫自己的大脑不停思考，这样我就不必拘泥于这些念头。
今天，我仍在和这些魔鬼战斗，但我已经让我太太在她床头放一把上膛的枪。如果我开始在半夜尖叫，或者含含糊糊地咆哮，我要她朝我的头开枪，直到子弹打空。一开始她拒绝了，但我们都深爱彼此。多亏了我深爱的妻子，有了她的承诺，我这辈子就没有睡得这么安稳过。
The MaxTac Way, by Mathias Maddox
FOREWORD TO THE SECOND EDITION
I was fortunate, after publishing the first edition of this book, to meet many people with fascinating stories. I spoke with people who lost loved ones at the hands of cyberpsychos. I met the relatives of people whom I shot. Needless to say, not every conversation ended on good terms.
After some time, I learned what questions to expect from my readers. Have you ever been shot? (Yes, and I've lost count.) Who was the most difficult person to kill/arrest? (The 2063 Golden Springs Mall Killer – more titanium bone and synth-skin than man.) What causes cyberpsychosis? (I'll let you know when I find out!)
Then, at a book-signing in Heywood, I was asked a question I had never heard before: Is there anything that keeps me awake at night? After a moment's reflection, I realized the answer was yes. Perhaps most surprisingly, however, it was not nightmares of eviscerated cyberpsycho victims, nor the shrieks and cries of my squad mates as they burned alive. Cruel as it may sound, I grew used to that. It was just part of the job. No – what caused my heart to pound as I lie in bed late at night is the thought that one day I, too, could succumb to cyberpsychosis. The amount of cyberware I have incorporated into my body is substantial. Far more than most. I tried to drown the human parts of me that fear, that doubt. I am aware just how fragile my humanity is – that piece of myself deep within that makes me who I am. One poorly clipped neuron, one hormonal overdose, and that piece may disappear forever, leaving behind an automoton with only one desire: to kill. In truth, I forced my mind to race so I would not have to confront these thoughts.
Today, I still struggle with these demons, but I have asked my wife to keep a loaded pistol in her bedside table. If I begin to scream or rant incoherently in the middle of the night, I instructed her to empty the entire clip between my eyes. At first she objected, but our love is strong. It is thanks to my loving wife's promise that I sleep more soundly now than ever before in my life.
